“Receiving the scholarship greatly improved my financial stability while at Auburn,” Stephen said. “I know a lot of people who had to take part-time jobs to pay for school without huge debt, and that’s extremely difficult to do as a full time engineering student.”

After graduation Stephen interned with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, United Launch Alliance in Denver, and then started graduate school at UCLA working towards a PhD in fluid mechanics. He joined UCLA and Professor Wirz’s Plasma and Space Propulsion Lab in September 2015. His ultimate post-graduation goal is to become a researcher at a national lab or NASA working on deep space propulsion for exploration.

“I’m honored to have been supported by the Florida Air Museum. Even before college, SUN ‘n FUN and the Aerospace Center for Excellence’s student events helped kick-start my interest in aerospace in middle and high school,” he concluded.